I know that sounds dumb, but I have never been to a competition and I have no clue what touch pads look like, how much room they take and how low below the water they are situated...Also, can you somehow miss the touch pads when you hit the wall or not press hard enough on them and not stop the clock?And how is it doing turns with touch pads on the wall?Are they not an unwelcome thing to land your feet on at turns?
3. they fit over the edge of the gutter and go down about 2-3 feet so IMPOSSIBLE to miss hitting them.
They can be missed. Sometimes with very wide lanes the pads move to one side and the swimmer hits the wall on the other side. The pads go down about 30 inches, so that if a swimmer makes a deep turn, the swimmer will miss the pad.
In long races, the 500 and longer, you will see the referee, the starter and the person who is taking care of the automatic timing system checking their lap totals for each swimmer, so that swimmers get the proper credit.
michael
3. they fit over the edge of the gutter and go down about 2-3 feet so IMPOSSIBLE to miss hitting them.
They can be missed. Sometimes with very wide lanes the pads move to one side and the swimmer hits the wall on the other side. The pads go down about 30 inches, so that if a swimmer makes a deep turn, the swimmer will miss the pad.
In long races, the 500 and longer, you will see the referee, the starter and the person who is taking care of the automatic timing system checking their lap totals for each swimmer, so that swimmers get the proper credit.
michael
